Zeecric Bureau
Mumbai: The much-awaited unveiling of two new Indian Premier League franchises was deferred till March 21 after the existing tender was cancelled, apparently owing to stiff procedural requirements of the governing council.
The IPL's governing council decided that under the terms of the tender, clause 11.4 -cancel the existing tender, the existing tender has been cancelled.
The fresh tender will now be out on March 9, the deadline for submission has been set at 10 am on March 21.
It would then be opened on that day in Chennai.
While the new conditions will be out on March 9, the net worth clause of USD 1 billion would be removed along with the clause requiring an advance guarantee of USD 100 million. The minimum bid amount however remains the same at USD 225 million.
Existing tenders were never opened and returned to the bidders.
Though the bidders' identities were not made public, Zeecric understands that amongst the 8-12 investors who submitted their bids, some of country’s biggest business groups- The Adnani Group and the Birlas were involved as were a few bollywood biggies like the Bachchans as well as Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor
Zeecric can also reliably reveal that Pune, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamsala, Vizag, Rajkot, Cuttack, Baroda, Kochi, Indore and Gwalior are the cities in fray.
First Published: Sunday, March 07, 2010, 16:46